Proposals and Oral Presentations

1. Engineering Design Proposals and Oral Presentations Created by Bing C. Wang Modified by John A. Chandy

2. Engineering Design Introduction Communication is key to Manage your project Getting your project funded Sell the merits of your project Communication skills required Oral presentations Written proposals

3. Engineering Design Outline Oral Presentation Know your audience Organization and Focus Presentation Style Time Management Proposals Know your audience Proposal requirements Proposal structure

4. Engineering Design Oral Presentation: Know your audience Clearly identify the audience�s depth of knowledge Do not derive semiconductor physics to investment bankers Do show fundamental understanding of engineering to whoever is giving the grades ! Clearly identify the audience�s interests Investment Bankers want to make $$$$ Your professors want to make sure you understand engineering Everyone likes to be entertained!

5. Engineering Design Know your audience Do research on your audience. What does the audience want to hear?? Venture Capitalists? How you�re going to make them money Naval Research Managers? How you�re going to improve their ships� capability to communicate

6. Engineering Design Outline Oral Presentation Know your audience Organization and Focus Presentation Style Have fun! Enthusiasm is contagious Proposals Know your audience Proposal requirements Proposal structure

7. Engineering Design FOCUS What is the point? Why am I here? oral presentations For long talk, can lose audience easy Avoid lengthy equations Unavoidable in most ECE lectures A picture is worth a thousand words NOT, a picture with a thousand words

8. Engineering Design Focus Remind audience of important points. Detailed Technical figures may be unavoidable in engineering presentations If detailed picture is absolutely necessary, emphasize important details visually

9. Engineering Design Organization: Provide outline of talk Oral Presentation Know your audience Organization and Focus Presentation Style Time Management Proposals Know your audience Proposal requirements Proposal structure

10. Engineering Design Organization Easy for audience to lose big picture Get lost in details Useful tip: redisplay the talk outline for each topic Highlight present topic Remind audience the organization of the talk

11. Engineering Design Organization: Basic Structure Start with Introduction Motivations Why is this interesting Provide outline of the talk Can be redisplayed to show topic progression Background material as needed Your new ideas New and better ways to do ��.ship2ship communications, make $$$$, lose weight, etc Defend your ideas Examples are helpful Conclusion

12. Engineering Design Organization Powerpoint Rules Keep it simple Cut clutter At the most two font families No more than one or two charts or figures per slide 666 rule 6 words per bullet 6 bullets per page 6 word slides in a row Be consistent

13. Engineering Design Organization Powerpoint Sins (Joseph Sommerville, http://entrepreneurs.about.com/cs/marketing/a/7sinsofppt.htm) Slide Transitions and Sound Effects Standard clipart Presentation templates Text-Heavy slides Text and images are too small Reading the slides Faith in technology

14. Engineering Design Outline Oral Presentation Know your audience Organization and Focus Presentation Style Time Management Proposals Know your audience Proposal requirements Proposal structure

15. Engineering Design Talk to the audience Obtain and maintain interest Make eye contact with people in different parts of the room Use examples �We will build an optical communication network using dense wavelength division multiplexing with polarization division multiplexing to transmit Terabit bandwidth telecommunication signals� BORING! �Doesn�t it drive you nuts when it takes you 20 minutes to download the DOOM3 trial version?� �We will build a network that will download it in 10 seconds using optical fiber!�

16. Engineering Design Dress Code Depends on the setting Conferences can range from shorts/t-shirts to suits Find out ahead of time what the prevailing dress code is Always err to the more conservative At a minimum - dress slacks and dress shirt Proposals Usually suits - at a minimum blazer with tie

17. Engineering Design Humor

18. Engineering Design Outline Oral Presentation Know your audience Organization and Focus Presentation Style Time Management Proposals Know your audience Proposal requirements Proposal structure

19. Engineering Design Time Management First rule of presentations KNOW HOW MUCH TIME YOU HAVE!!! Nothing irritates an audience more than a presentation that runs long - especially if its boring Keep a watch or clock easily visible Know ahead of time which slides you can skip if you are running long Skip implementation details Show results - that�s what impresses people Good rule of thumb - 1 to 2 minutes per slide

20. Engineering Design Time Management Best way to judge time is to practice ahead of time Do a run through as a team and with your advisor Practice as if you were doing the actual presentation You can catch places where you may not be expressing the material clearly enough Use the notes feature to help you Practice enough times so that it is natural You should be able to know what the next slide is so you can transition naturally

21. Engineering Design Outline Oral Presentation Know your audience Organization and Focus Presentation Style Time Management Proposals Know your audience Proposal requirements Proposal structure

22. Engineering Design Proposal: know your audience Research projects Proposals to government agencies are all peer reviewed. National Science Foundation funds 10-15% of submitted proposal Other external proposals also undergo competitive reviews by panels or individuals Judged on strength of ideas, quality of writing, ability to deliver, and team�s prior record Interested in advancement of science and/or engineering Need to convince agency your ideas advance science/engineering If there is a specific question, ANSWER IT! $$$ for ways to improve spectral efficiency of optical comm, etc So answer HOW you�re going to do that.

23. Engineering Design Proposal: know your audience High Tech Start-ups Proposals to Venture Capital firms are reviewed by firm�s partners Most venture capital firms fund <1% of proposal VC firm may hire experts or consultants for due diligence Judge on strength of team members, market appetite for the ideas, and quality of ideas Interested in making money. What are the chances of this company going public? How soon? What are the chances that a large corporation will buy this company? Need to convince VC that the idea will make money

24. Engineering Design Proposal: know your audience Internal project proposals Proposals will be reviewed by various levels of management Management may or may not be technical Final project proposal may need sign off from different divisions of the company including sales, marketing, support, manufacturing, etc. Proposal needs to make a business case Does new project/product align with current business? Do the projected revenues justify the associated costs of project development? Are there available resources within the company to complete the project? - money, people, equipment, etc. If pure research, how does it advance the long-term goals of company?

25. Engineering Design Outline Oral Presentation Know your audience Organization and Focus Presentation Style Time Management Proposals Know your audience Proposal requirements Proposal structure

26. Engineering Design Proposal Requirements Some proposals have multiple stages First cut: white paper, or pre-proposal Second cut: proposal Third cut: on-site presentation Page requirement is indication of how much the funding manager wants to read!! If agency require 5 pages, and you write 50 pages. Yours will be read last�.if at all! Proposals require resumes of applicants Often not necessary for white papers You address very specific questions.

27. Engineering Design Proposal Requirements Only in school will you get a letter grade, A, B, C, D, F, on your proposal Everywhere else, it�s $$$$ or no $$$$ School grades you on basic metrics, i.e. organization, ideas, preparation, results Everywhere else, it�s competitive bidding. There are no B+ or A-. You just won�t get a dime.

28. Engineering Design Outline Oral Presentation Know your audience Organization and Focus Presentation Style Time Management Proposals Know your audience Proposal requirements Proposal structure

29. Engineering Design Basic Outline Title Summary Background Solution [technical proposal] Project phases, timing, milestones Budget Information about personnel and collaborators

30. Engineering Design Introductory Elements Attractive but meaningful title [title page typically includes agency to which proposal is submitted; contact point] Summary [clear statement of what is proposed] Background [statement of the problem to be solved including importance].

31. Engineering Design Technical Proposal Body of the proposal Theory [clearly explain relevant theory] Approach [clearly state your solution] Preliminary experimental results Very helpful!

32. Engineering Design Project Plan Phases Timing Milestones [what are the key intermediate accomplishments] Graphical presentation works well here. Break down the work into modules. Look for a logical organization. What tasks must be completed before subsequent phases can be undertaken? Which tasks can be done in parallel?

33. Engineering Design Budget If you can, try to find out what the funding agency is willing to spend Typically, funding agencies have detailed instructions on Budget Should be reasonable for what you propose to do Typical categories - Salaries [include indirect costs] - Equipment - Supplies - Travel - Administrative - Overhead [40-60% universities, >100% companies]

34. Engineering Design Conclusion Oral presentations; know your audience, organize and focus, and talk to your audience. Proposals for funding - Know the funding agency government or commercial interest? - Present you case clearly and concisely - Answer the question - competitive process Announcements: try out web site Presentations: After the breakAnnouncements: try out web site Presentations: After the break